A fax protocol (G3-fax) recommended by ITU-T (International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication sector) is a protocol for transmitting a script in the form of electronic data to a fax number and thereafter transmitting it as image data. Fax protocols are widely used around the world from household fax machines to combined-type fax machines used for business (referred to as “fax devices” hereinafter).
In recent years, there have been transfer routes that not only print/output data transmitted from a fax device to a sheet in a transmission destination but also convert image data into an electronic mail and transmit it to a device that can transmit and receive electronic mails (referred to as a PC hereinafter), or transfer routes that transmit it from a PC to a fax.    (1) Transmission from fax device to fax device    (2) Transmission from fax device to PC    (3) Transmission from PC to fax device
Also, as output media, there are not only paper or display devices but also storage in category folders of a computer as electronic files.
Regarding the implementation of (2) and (3) above, it is not practical to change fax protocols that have already been widely used by public circuits. As a method for implementing for example (2) in an external mechanism without changing fax protocols, there is a transfer service system of a telecommunication carrier that converts fax data into electronic mails so as to transmit them.
According to the transfer service system, a transmission side registers beforehand in a transfer service system a fax number to which a transmission destination code has been added or an electronic mail address to which a transmission destination code has been added. The transmission destination code and the fax number/electronic mail address are associated and registered in a correspondence table. A fax number to which a transmission destination code has been added and an electronic mail address to which a transmission destination code has been added are referred to as transmission destination information. The transmission side dials the telephone number of the transfer service system and subsequently dials the above transmission destination code so as to perform fax transmission of a target script to the transfer service system. The transfer service system receives the target transfer information transmitted through fax, and obtains the transmission destination information corresponding to the dialed transmission destination code from the correspondence table. The transfer service system transmits the target script information to the actual reception destination in accordance with the transmission method in the transmission destination information (fax of electronic mail).
However, in the output destination conversion into an electronic mail in the transfer service system, pre-registration operations in the transfer service system are necessary, leading to troublesome procedures and a possibility of consuming time before transmission. Also, a number to be dialed consists of a fixed number and a transmission destination code, which are not related to the number or the address of the actual reception destination, leading to a possibility of having trouble in the checking of transmission confirmation.
As a technique for avoiding the troublesome pre-registration above, there is a first technique that adds transfer information to a transmission image itself so as to control it. In this first technique, a digital copy device extracts embedded image data of an embedded image that has been embedded beforehand in an image of a script from the image data of the script that was read and generated by a reading unit. The digital copy device analyzes an image process command included in the embedded image from the extracted embedded image data and obtains an image process content executed on the script image data. The digital copy device executes the image process on the script image data on the basis of the obtained image process content. According to the first technique, as an image process command, a transmission destination command represented by the mail address of the transmission destination and an output image process command are in the form of a two-dimensional barcode.
Also, there are other techniques related to data transmission as below.
In the second technique, an image forming device includes a network IF (interface), an image reading unit, an image forming unit, and a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The network IF communicates with other computers. The image reading unit reads scripts and outputs image data. The image forming unit receives inputs of image data and forms an image on a recording medium. The CPU includes an electronic mail process unit, encoding/decoding process unit, and an intermediate image generation unit. The electronic mail process unit obtains the header portion of an electronic mail when an electronic mail containing data has been received from a different computer through the network IF. The encoding/decoding process unit encodes the header portion and outputs a barcode. The intermediate image generation unit outputs, to the image forming unit, an intermediate image obtained by synthesizing the data and the barcode. Also, the encoding/decoding process unit decodes a barcode included in image data obtained by reading a script so as to obtain the header portion. The electronic mail process unit transmits the image to a transmission destination specified by the header portion. Thereby, data and information related to the data are associated even while recoding media change.
Also, according to the third technique, a printing system includes clients that are connected to the same network to transmit data and a printing device that is connected to a public circuit to perform printing of data from the clients. A client includes application software, a printer driver, and a communication unit. The application software generates a transmission script. The printer driver controls operations of the printing device. The communication unit performs data transmission and data reception with the printing device through the network. The printing device includes a communication unit, a command analysis unit, a printing unit, a data conversion unit, and a facsimile transmission unit. The communication unit receives data from a client. The command analysis unit analyses received data. The printing unit prints data on sheets of paper. The data conversion unit converts print data into facsimile transmission data. The facsimile transmission unit performs facsimile transmission of facsimile transmission data. Thereby, printing and facsimile transmission can be performed in a simple manner.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-113125
Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-180342
Patent Document 3: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2000-332939